The Loss Of A Hero
by bdawgwarfear
Summary: Percy dies and becomes a special kind of spirit. Annabeth and Nico investigate some strange happenings and people that may lead to percy. this is my first fanfic. more info stuffs inside, PLZ read and review.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: this is my first ever fanfiction. i plan to make this one go far. UNFORTUNATELY currently i only have chapters one and two typed. i have 1-7 penciled (handwritten), but due to some current circumstances, i cannot post all that often. like.. rarely. in fact i actually can only rarely visit the site. lUCKILY what i CAN do is i can email my typed chapters to my girlfriend, who can post them on her computer. this wont be super often, but it will be more often than a blue moon, which is how often i could post them myself. SOdont worry, more is coming. Fluff and romantic stuffs will not be for a while, but soon...ish

and now the disclaimer thing. i unfortunately do not own any of the characters except for the ones i made up, and i do not own any of the names except the ones i made up. most characters belong to rick riordan, who is completely awesome. some names belong to him, and some to kingdom hearts 1&2 and some to final fantasy games. but only the names for the KH and FF ones, the characters are my own.

basically i own nothing but the ideas. HA NOBODY CAN SUE ME NOW... i think.

so yeah. imma try to be as consistant as i can but PLEASE remember that this is my first fanfiction.. well actually the first of any stories ive written. imma little new to the world of writing. SO ok: time for thank you's

thanks a million to Ambs15, the writer on here that inspired me to write a percy fanfic.

thanks to my girlfriend, Cristina, who will most likely be posting most of my stories for me (just posting, i'm the writer)

and thanks so much to YOU. the reader. it means a lot that you're reading my story.

and i probaby bored u with a long A/n. SOO imma let you read. Enjoy.

The Loss of a Hero: Chapter One

Annabeth POV

"Run, Annabeth, run!" Percy shouted beside me.

"Did you think I was just going to stand around?!" I yelled back. "Honestly! I'm not stupid!"

"Then what do you call angering that swarm of Anemoi Thuellai?"

I glared at him as we started to run, side by side, away from a large group of killer storm spirits. In that moment, I missed seeing a root sticking out of the ground and I tripped over it, hearing a CRACK. I knew at once that my ankle just broke. The storm spirits got closer, and we both realized that Percy have to fight to protect me. He curses and draws Riptide. I try to count the storm spirits, but with their forms breaking up and whirling around, it's quite challenging; but I estimate about twenty or more. Normally that's no problem for Percy, with his Achilles strength and skill. But he also has to protect me, and he doesn't have his armor so his Achilles spot is exposed, and if a storm spirit so much as scratches him there… No. I don't want to think about it.

As if he read my mind, Percy looked at me, then encased himself in watery armor. He nodded at me, and I return it weakly, then he headed into battle.

If I had known what was to happen during that battle, I would have had Percy carry me and keep running. I didn't, though, only because we had to protect the newer campers, who were pretty much the only ones at camp during the winter. Storm spirits are hard to battle; those kids, inexperienced as they were, wouldn't last a second. The spirits were too close now to outdistance, so the battle had to be fought here.

Percy conjured up his own storm, but the Anemoi Thuellai were right at home with storms, and they attacked relentlessly. As Percy fought, I took some ambrosia, probably more than I should have, but I could walk slowly with some sort of crutch… I looked around and picked up a large stick. Perfect. I hobbled away, hoping to find a way to use an Iris-Message to get word to Chiron and the senior campers.

That was my first mistake.

As I made the call with a rainbow from the mist, I turned and saw a storm spirit sneak up behind Percy.

"Percy, behind you!" I screamed, and started hobbling toward him.

That was my second mistake.

For the brief moment he looked my way, the storm spirit closed the distance between it and Percy.

I could only watch as it slashed and hit Percy in the small of his back, breaking through his water-armor and sliced into the one vulnerable point that meant certain death.

"No! PERCY!" I screamed as I moved as fast as I could toward him, then had to hold up an arm to shield myself as Percy transformed into a supernova.

When the heat and the glare died down, he was lying on his back, surrounded by ash and monster dust, having vaporized the storm spirits. I finally got to him and tried pulling him upright, be he was slipping.

"I'll get you back to camp. We can get ambrosia-" I started to say, but he cut me off by slowly shaking his head, coughing blood.

"There's nothing that can save me now," he said, through dry, bloody lips.

"Percy, you can't leave us! We need you! … I need you."

"Not like I have much choice… goodbye, Annabeth." He smiled at me, then he closed his eyes and went limp.

Chiron and the senior campers came after some time, I don't know how much, and they found me holding the lifeless body of Percy Jackson, the most powerful demigod of the age, now dead in my arms.

The next evening, we buried Percy in his shroud. It was a beautiful combination of deep blue with sea green trim, with gold tridents along the edge. His body and shroud sank into the earth in a casket, and I was sobbing uncontrollably.

When I finally looked up, I saw that I wasn't the only one. Almost every camper, including the summer campers that had come, was in tears. Even Chiron, who had seen many heroes come and go, was crying along with the rest of us. There were some new campers sitting around looking uncomfortable; they didn't know who Percy was and what he meant to us all. I felt sorry for them. They would never be able to know him, never be able to have his guidance and friendship.

And I…I would never again hear his voice or taste the saltiness of his lips again…_Oh Gods._ I choked back a sob. _Seaweed Brain, why did you have to leave me?_ And then, I couldn't hold it back and I began sobbing again. The best thing in my life- no, in all of our lives- was gone. I could not believe how quickly he was ripped away from us all… I was the only one there to say goodbye before he died… I was the only one who got to share his last moments with him…that only got my emotions jumbled up. I was somewhat happier because of those things, that I was able to do them, but I didn't want them to have had to happen in the first place.

I wasn't ready to let go of him, I wasn't ready to lose the one I cared for most. I thought about it, then realized, _I never would have been ready. None of us would ever have been ready. _ None of us would have ever wanted him to go. Any time would have been too soon, but this time was much more so. He was only 18. That's too young to die, even for a hero. _Especially_ for that particular hero. The one we all looked up to. The one who always took care of others before taking care of himself. The one who would give his own life in order to save someone else's. And that is exactly what he had done.

I cursed myself. _If only I had been a little quicker, If only I hadn't tripped, If only I had stayed by his side, he would still be here…_ I shook my head. Percy wouldn't want me to beat myself up.

One by one the other campers gradually calmed themselves out of crying, and slowly started trickling back to their cabins. I stayed, though. The last to go was Chiron who, having no words of encouragement, gave me a hug, though I'm pretty sure it was for both of us. Then he turned and slowly went back to the Big House.

I stayed by Percy's grave all night. There was no way I would leave that place. Eventually, I fell asleep, and I had dreams of the most wonderful person in the world…

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

A/N k this is the second chapter, and the last one that i will be able to publish personally for a while most likely, my GF will prob post all the next ones for a while. but imma send her chapters as often as i can for all o' y'all's pleasure. please excuse errors in things like tense shifts or inconsistancies or just plain stupid or whatever things. hey, i'm new at writing. sue me. anyways, ENJOY

The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Two

Annabeth POV

I woke up, and for a moment I didn't remember. Then I saw where I was. I was still in front of Percy's grave, thought someone had come sometime during the night and had put a blanket over me. My mind was a little foggy from having just woken up from sleep, but as the fog started to clear, a fresh wave of sadness came right along with it, and I began to cry again.

I cried for some time, a few minutes maybe, or more. But eventually I finally quieted down, wiped away my tears and, with some hesitation, left Percy's grave to go and clean myself up.

I walked into my cabin and looked around the room. Empty. I guess it must be later than I thought it was. I walked over to my bunk to get a fresh set of clothes. As I open the drawer to the dresser beside my bunk, I see a picture on top. I pick it up and look at it; it's a picture of Percy and me, at the beach. He has his arm around me and he's smiling, while I am caught in mid-laugh. Seeing us together and happy like that just tears my heart into pieces. Still holding the picture, I collapse onto my bunk and I sob for a while.

Eventually I quiet down and just sit numbly on the edge of my bunk. After some time, I hear someone come in and the bed creaks as someone sits next to me. I look up and it's Thalia, which is surprising. "Thalia? W-what are you doing here? Are the Hunters here too?" I manage to say.

She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Yes, the Hunters are here, though they're waiting a ways away from the borders though. You know how they don't like coming here. But we all came last night for the funeral- there was no way we'd miss it. But that's not what matters right now. What matters is how you're doing now that Percy's dea- er, isn't around anymore."

At that I burst into tears again. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to live without him… Oh, why did he have to die?" I start sobbing again, and Thalia pulls me in for a hug, but she doesn't say anything. For what would there be to say? No words could comfort me. My love, my whole life, had been taken away from me. How could anyone live after something like that?

Thalia pulled away after a minute, but she kept her hands on my shoulders. "Annabeth, I know that it just happened and that you're going to need time to recover from this, but you've gotta be strong. Remember, Percy gave his life for you. You have to honor that sacrifice and live your life. It's gonna be hard, I know, but you have to move on somehow."

I nodded, not really hearing. Thalia stood up. "I'm really sorry, but I don't have any more time to visit- the Hunters need to get moving. There's been some strange things going on and we're going to out and investigate."

I looked up. "What strange things?"

She pursed her lips. "Nevermind, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. You just work on recovering. See you later, Annabeth." She walked out the door, leaving me on my bunk. I knew she was right, that I needed to recover, but I couldn't see how I could possibly move on from this.

I continued sitting on the edge of my bunk all day, declining all offers of food or activity. Nothing would ever feel good again without Percy…

I fell asleep at some point, I don't know when. But I kept waking up all throughout the night, and in the morning I was even more tired than I was before I went to sleep. I was offered breakfast again, but I declined. I would have declined anyways, but I also had something else I wanted to do. I got out of bed, and walked out of my cabin. I walked across the fields, and down a path I knew well. I emerged onto a wide stretch of land, and I took off my shoes. I dug my toes into the sand, and smelled the salty air. I was at the place that I felt closest to Percy- the beach. I walked over to our special spot. I looked out across the water, and I cried. The tears wouldn't stop, until I heard a sound. I listened, and I heard the clip-clopping of hooves.

I turned, expecting Chiron. But to my surprise, I saw a black horse, with huge wings curled up at its side. Blackjack the Pegasus, friend of Percy ever since he helped to free Blackjack from the _Princess Andromeda_. His head hung low, and I swear he was crying.

I pulled myself up and walked over to stand by him. I put my hand on his side. "I know, Blackjack. I know. We all miss him. He's gone, and we'll never see him again… Oh, Blackjack, why did he have to die?" Tears started slipping down my cheeks again, and somehow I could tell that Blackjack was crying too. Eventually we cried ourselves out, and we just sat together a while.

After sometime, Blackjack rose to his feet. He looked at me with a little tilt in his head, like he was asking _want a ride?_

I shook my head, and he nodded. He then ran and leapt into the air, and his powerful wings flapped, and then he was soaring through the sky. I watched him until I could no longer see him. Then I sat back down on the warm sand and stared across the waves.

As time went on, the sky grew dark, and the conch horn was blown for curfew. I paid it no attention, and stayed out on the beach. The harpies were nowhere to be seen, I guess they felt sorry for me and so were leaving me alone. I didn't really think about it.

I watched as the stars came out, and as they appeared, twinkling, one by one, I searched the sky for a constellation I knew well. I scanned the sky, and then saw it-the huntress. I gazed at it, remembering how it used to be Zoë Nightshade, the former lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. She was killed in battle- a battle fought to free Artemis and me from the Titan Atlas. The memory reminded me of what Percy did for me, and it made me sad again.

Sometime during the night, I walked back to his grave. The moon was out, so I could see where I was going. Not that I needed it, I knew the camp like the back of my hand. But it was a full moon, and it was beautiful.

As I walked toward the grave, the shadows seemed to become solid, and then there was a boy standing in front of it. "Nico?" I said, and the son of Hades turned with tears in his eyes.

"So it's true… he's really gone," Nico said, and tears ran down his cheeks.

"Yeah… he is." My voice sounded hollow. "He-he sacrificed himself to save me."

Nico turned, his expression hardening into…anger? No, Determination. But why…? And then I realized.

Nico was going to bring Percy back from the Underworld.

He took a step back, ready to shadow-travel, but I grabbed his shoulder. "Nico, Wait."

He looked away, shrugging my hand off his shoulder. "I'm bringing him back."

"Nico-"

"Don't try to stop me." He stepped back, but I grabbed his shoulder again. "Wait, Nico."

He glared at me. "You won't stop me, Annabeth." Then his expression became confused. "Wait… why _are_ you trying to stop me?"

I gave him a look. "Well, if you'd let me speak…"

He sighed. "Fine. Talk."

"Thank you," I said. "And I'm not trying to stop you."

"Then what _are_ you trying to do?"

I looked at him, surprised. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going with you."

End of Chapter 2

A/N hey guys.. no reviews but mine and my gf's... so, i'm not posting unless i hit 10 reviews. from diff people. so 7 people need to review then i'll continue posting. come on, people. its rather depressing when over 120 people view but 0 take the time to review.


	3. Chapter 3

Annabeth's POV

Nico stared at me in surprise. "You're what?" he exclaimed, probably waking half the camp up.

_ Ok, I need to hurry up before they all come and stop us. _I crossed my arms. "I _said_, genius, that I'm going with you. I am going to get Percy back."

He shook his head stubbornly, making me even more annoyed. "No way am I letting you go down there. It's the Underworld we're talking about. That would be way too dangerous for you. You're not going."

I shot him my best death glare. "For your information, I've been down there. Obviously, I survived. And I was a lot younger than I am now. So, no, it's not too dangerous," I argued.

He opened his mouth, no doubt to give more reasons that I couldn't go. I fixed that problem quickly by clamping my hand over his mouth. Looking him right in the eye, I said, "Nico, you're not going to stop me. Because I'm going to the Underworld, regardless of whether or not you let me go with you. So what will it be? Take me with you, or let me go off into the Underworld on my own?" I removed my hand from his mouth so that he could speak.

He didn't say anything for a while, but I saw lights from the cabins and the Big House come on and I turned towards him. "And you're running out of time to decide. People will be here soon and they won't let either of us go. They'll tell your dad to stop us," I added. "Do you really want that?"

He looked at me with fury in his eyes, but then it died down to just annoyance. "Fine. I'll let you come," he growled. "But this doesn't mean that I like it."

"Thank you," I said, and looked over his shoulder at the lights bobbing as they got nearer. They were still a ways off, but they were getting closer. "So, before we get caught and yelled at, we should get going. So, where do we start?"

In response, Nico whistled softly. A few seconds later, a mass of black fur easily the size of a tank came shambling up to us.

I smiled. "Hey, Mrs. O' Leary," I said. I scratched her behind the ears. Usually, this would make her tail thump against the ground so hard that you'd think there was an earthquake. But not tonight. Tonight, she seemed sad. She sniffed around the grave and whimpered, and I knew exactly who she was thinking about. "I know, girl. I know. Your master is gone. But we're getting him back. We'll need your help though. Can you help us?"

I don't really know how much she understood, but she seemed to perk up a little. Her tail wagged slightly, and I took that as a confirmation. "Good. Thank you," I said, smiling. "We'll find him, even if it means searching the whole Underworld, and Tartarus itself, too."

Nico snorted. "If he's in Tartarus, there's no getting him out. None of the gods would even go near Tartarus, and for good reason. It's like a black hole, a bottomless pit of evil. Get too close to it and you get sucked in. Nothing can escape Tartarus."

Kronos escaped from Tartarus," I pointed out.

Nico's expression turned dark. "That's only because of two reasons. For one, Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss from which it gets its name, was the husband of Gaea, who was the mother of Kronos, so he _wanted_ Kronos to escape. The other reason is because dark, forbidden magic was used to bring pieces of him out."

"Oh," I said. "Wait, why are we even talking about this? We're wasting time, and they-" I gestured toward the nearing lights, "are getting closer, while we are getting farther from escaping."

"Well, you brought it up…" Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up," I replied. He opened his mouth to retort but I clamped my hand over his mouth again. "Is this getting us any nearer to Percy?" I asked. "No? I didn't think so. Come on, we have to go," I said, and took my hand off his mouth again.

Nico glared at me with some fire in his eyes. I stared him down, and he looked away, seemingly getting his anger under control. "Fine. Let's go," he said curtly, and whispered something in Mrs. O' Leary's ear. "Climb on."

I clambered up onto Mrs. O' Leary's back and held on to her collar. "LA?" I asked.

"No. Closer. Central Park, the Door of Orpheus," he replied.

"Oh. Okay," I said. "I guess that's easier than dealing with Charon, huh?" I smiled at the memory. _Do I look like a centaur to you?_

"No argument there," he said, seeming to brighten at least a little bit, and then put a hand on Mrs. O' Leary. "Go," he told her, and she bounded towards the shadow-filled trees and leaped, then suddenly we were moving at an insane speed through pitch black. I held on tightly to the collar in front of me, trying to not fall off. I didn't relax until we emerged from the shadows. I looked around; we were somewhere in Central Park. A little ways ahead of us, there were a cluster of big rocks.

Nico popped out beside us a second or two later. After years of shadow-travelling, it barely affected him anymore, so he didn't get tired or anything. He dusted himself off, then turned towards me.

"Alright. Now that we're here, we need to open the gate. And to open the gate, we are gonna need some music."

I was about to protest that my singing was the last thing that would count as music, but then a high, quiet voice spoke behind us. "Did somebody say that they needed music?" it said, and we turned as a little girl that looked a year or two younger than me walked up from out of the forest. She held something in her hand that was long and thin, but I couldn't tell what it was from where I was standing. She had dark hair and blue eyes set in a face that seemed both childlike and mature at the same time, like a god's sometimes looked. Her body was small and slim, but obviously fairly strong. Her skin was pale white, almost like paper. But the odd thing about her was that her body was shimmering silver and black. She was obviously either a god or a spirit. On Olympus, I had seen many different spirits, minor gods, and even the gods on the Olympian Council, but she was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I turned to Nico with a questioning look, but confusion and cluelessness was written all over his face. He had never seen anything like her before either. Well, no time like the present to learn. I turned to her and managed a smile.

"Do you mind if I ask who you are?" I said, and she laughed. It was a high, sweet sound that seemed to ring like a bell. "I don't mind at all. My name is Kairina-"she curtsied, "but please, call me Kairi."

"It's nice to meet you, Kairi," I said.

Nico nodded distractedly, but his mystified gaze remained fixed upon Kairi, as if staring at her would somehow unlock the knowledge of what exactly she was. Kairi noticed his look and she laughed again, the melodic sound ringing through the air. "You have no idea what I am, do you? Well, that doesn't surprise me. After all, my people usually try to remain unseen, unknown, and unheard-of."

At this Nico's look became surprised, obviously because there wasn't much on, above, nor under the earth that he didn't know about. A whole spirit race of some sort, evading his notice? That must be hard for him to take. Kairi grinned at his expression, and said, "In answer to your question, I am one of the Shadow Singers."

I didn't think it was possible for Nico's expression to become more confused, but somehow it did. "Shadow… Singers?" he responded slowly, sounding it out as if doing that would bring understanding.

Kairi nodded. "Shadow Singers. That's just one branch of the Shadow People."

It really was rather entertaining watching Nico's face. It was very animated, surprising for a son of Hades. "Shadow… People?" he said, though it sounded more of a question than a statement.

"Shadow People," Kairi confirmed. "Shadow People are spirits that for some reason didn't go to the Underworld. They got trapped in the realm of shadows, between life and death. Their experiences and skills while they were alive determine their skills, and therefore their class, when they become a shadow person. When I was alive, my best pleasures in life were playing my flute and singing. When I died, my love and my skill for music blossomed, and I became a Shadow Singer, the musical side to the Shadow People. There are countless other kinds, and it is all determined by what people did or loved while they were alive. Do you understand now?" she asked, directing the question at Nico.

He slowly nodded. "Yes… I think so," he said, though it was plain that he didn't.

Kairi giggled a little. "No, you don't. But I can tell you more later. You said you needed music?"

"Oh yeah," I said. "That's right. Um, we need to get into the Gate of Orpheus so that we can get our friend Percy back from the Underworld."

She raised an eyebrow, but said, "Alright, I can open the gate for you. One second," she said, and pulled the slender object -which I now saw was a silver flute- to her lips. She took a breath and began to play.

The music surprised me, because it was far from what I expected. I had heard some beautiful flute music on MountOlympus, but this… this was beyond compare. The song was simple, but somehow it conveyed a feeling of soothing calmness. The music somehow brought to mind the sound of slow-moving water, and the feel of moonlight upon my face in the dark. On the face of the cliff, a triangular section dissolved, leaving a downward-slanting corridor, but I remained transfixed upon the sweet beauty of her music. When she lowered the flute, I wished that she would keep playing; I hungered to hear more.

Nico gaped. "That-that was…" he trailed off, looking for the right way to describe that which could not be simply named music.

"Indescribably beautiful," I finished for him, and Kairi ducked and blushed at the praise.

"It was nothing," she said. "Just a little music," she said, then changed the subject by asking, "What are your names, by the way?"

"My name is Annabeth," I said. "That's Nico over there, with his mouth hanging open." When he heard that, he snapped his mouth shut and turned red, and Kairi and I giggled.

"It is nice to meet you both," she said. "Anyways, shall we?" she gestured toward the entrance.

Surprised, I asked, "You're coming with us?"

She nodded. "I'd be glad to, I always love an adventure. That is," she amended, "if you don't mind me coming along."

I smiled. "Of course you can come along. We'd love-"

Nico cut me off. "Uh guys, in about 60 seconds, that entrance is gonna close for the next 12 hours…. Maybe we should, like, run," he said, and he took off for the opening. Kairi and I followed right behind him.

We got inside just before the cliff face rematerialized. I dusted myself off and looked down the tunnel. "Well then," I said. "We've got some quality time in the Underworld."

* * *

Author's Note! (Well, technically publisher's note)

Hello, I'm Cristina, the new publisher/editor. Two things: No more waiting for so and so reviews before publishing. Next thing, you'd think I'd get paid to do this.. No, I'm just joking. :) Chapter four should be up in hopefully the next few days, feel free to leave comments/advice/suggestions/random stuff you think we should know about in a review.

a/n hey y'all its me ben/bdawg/blitz/warfear take your pick lol. anyway, Cristina forgot to say why ive not posted in, like, forever. well, i'm only 15.. i got my computer privs taken away... i wasnt able to type and give it to cristina to post. im typing this a/n on my normal kindle. as of now ive been typing 'bout 15+ min. anyways, i am not yet requiring reviews. that will change once chapter 7 is posted. i dont want to but it's kinda sad if nobody ever tells u what they think of something you worked hard on. well anyways i'm able to use the computer to type (duh TY captain obvious) but no email so u guys what happens is i got 2 flash drives. i write, save, give one to her when i see her. we continue switching. update 7/12/13: ch4's done, 5 im still typing. i'll prob get my flashdrive to cristina on sunday. hopefully 5 will be done.

ok if i keep rambling y'all are gonna hate me. R&R PLZ

Blitz out!


	4. Chapter 4

Percy POV

_… Darkness... Darkness… surrounded me. Surrounded everything. Darkness… consumed me. Consumed everything. Was everything. Was me. I was darkness and it was me… it consumed me and I became darkness. As darkness I consumed darkness itself. Darkness became me and I became darkness…_

Much time passed in my confrontation with darkness. I finally regained sense of self, and saw only darkness. I was in a land of darkness, but how? I died… I should have gone to the Underworld. So why was I here?

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I began to see a faint silver glow. Looking around, I could not determine the light's source, but then I looked down and realized that the glow was coming from _me_.

Taking a look at myself I noticed some… _odd_ differences. For one, I was shimmering silver and black. Also, my clothes seemed to shimmer in the same way. _That's weird_, I thought.

A minute or two later, a flash of silver came from behind me. I turned, and saw that there was a girl, maybe a little older than I was, standing in front of me. She had honey-blonde hair, tanned skin, and chocolate-brown eyes. She was shimmering silver and black, just like me. "Who are you?" I called out to her.

She walked up to me until she was an arm's-length away. When she stopped, she gave a little bow. "My name is Sierra, what is yours?"

"Percy…Percy Jackson," I replied.

"Nice to meet you, Percy," Sierra said. She looked a little closer at me. "Now, what might you be?" she asked, her gaze not leaving me.

"What do you mean, what am I?"

"What kind of Shadow Person you are."

"Shadow Person? What's a Shadow Person?" I asked.

She looked up at me. "Basically, when you died, your spirit somehow got caught in the realm between life and death- the shadow realm. Your spirit became a part of this realm, and you gained powers that blossomed from your loves and your skills when you were alive. Make sense?"

"Er… I guess so."

She nodded. "Well, we should get you to HQ. Everything will be sorted out there." She put her hand around my wrist and suddenly we were in the middle of a city, shimmering in black and silver. _I guess everything around here does that_… I looked at all the buildings around us, but the building right in front of us took the spotlight. A massive structure easily two miles wide and three times the height of the EmpireStateBuilding took up most of my vision. I stared at it in awe.

"That's HQ," Sierra said beside me. "It's the center of everything. Literally. It's right in the center of the city. It's where basically everything happens to keep us all running. Intelligence, power, those kinds of things."

"This city…" I stammered, "What is it called?"

She smiled. "This grand place is Aurora, the city of the shadows. Our home."

"Wow…" I responded, trailing off. There was too much to take in, this place could leave me entranced for hours. I just stood there, staring at it all in awe.

A minute or two passed, and then Sierra nudged me. "Come on, let's go and find out what we're gonna do with you."

"What you're gonna do with me? What-"I got cut off by Sierra, who grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the huge building.

Walking into a large room that was heavily windowed, she pulled me up to a desk, where a man was sitting. He looked up at her. "New arrival, type unknown," Sierra stated. "Needs classification and briefing."

The man entered something on a computer on the side of his desk, and then turned back to Sierra. "Floor 314, Room C. Your usual place," he added.

"Thank you," she said, then put her hand around my wrist again. Our surroundings shifted, and we were in a room that looked like a conference room on one side, a bedroom on another, along with a lab of some sort and someone's personal work area- a desk with a single computer and a standing lamp next to it.

Sierra dropped my wrist and yelled, "Pence! Get in here!"

A moment or two later, a guy about six or seven years older than I was appeared. He had blonde hair and chocolate-colored eyes. I realized that he looked a lot like Sierra, and I asked, "You two are brother and sister?"

The guy, Pence, walked over and ruffled Sierra's hair up. "Yep, we're the odd pair that somehow died together, and both of us became Shadow People. That doesn't happen too often."

"Cool," I replied, and he nodded.

"So, you're…" he looked at a tablet computer (shimmering silver and black like everything else) that had popped into existence in his hands, "…Percy? Yes… and you don't yet know your class. Don't worry, that won't be too hard to figure out. It's easy, all I gotta do is…" He placed a hand on my forehead, and a rush of memories came to me. _He's… downloading my memories?_ I thought. The flow ended, and he placed his hand on the tablet. After a second, a delightful little '_ding!_'' was heard. The light from the tablet flashed against Pence's face, and he just stood there, staring at it for a second. "That… that can't be right…" he muttered, pacing.

"What? What is it?" Sierra asked, trying to look over his shoulder. When she finally saw, she stopped and stared at Percy.

"So… is anyone gonna tell me what is _so_ incredibly interesting about me, or do I just stand here and look cool?" I wondered what it could be that would cause them to react like that.

Pence looked up from his muttering and pacing, and his eyes seemed to analyze me. "You, Percy, happen to have become the most powerful Shadow in existence. You're an Elite, a Shadow that has the potential to possess completely unmatched strength and skill that tops all others. You contain a huge amount of raw power that, with the right training, can turn you into an insanely powerful force." He dropped his gaze and continued pacing.

Sierra continued for him, "Elites are the most powerful Shadows of their class; they surpass all others, hands down. Their natural potential exceeds even the power of those who have trained to their max. Speaking of which… Pence, what's his class?"

"Warrior," he replied, as he continued to wear a groove in the floor with his pacing.

"Wow… a Shadow Warrior Elite…"

As they were talking, I checked my pockets for Riptide. Nothing. I frantically searched every pocket and patted them down, but no. Riptide was gone. "Uh, hey guys, where's…" I trailed off, a blank look on my face.

"Oh," Sierra said, "right. Er… items made with magical metals and items with magical abilities don't follow you into death… not much does, really. Sorry about that…" she trailed off.

"Well… we _can_ create copies, using Shadow Steel," Pence amended. "It would mean finding it in the living world so that I can scan it, but we can do that for you. You want to do that?" he asked.

"That would be incredibly awesome, can we really?" I brightened at the idea of getting my weapon that I had been using most of my life back.

"Yep, we really can. We're gonna need you to come along and guide us, and we're all gonna have to be invisible to the living. You think you can figure out how to do that?" he asked.

I thought about it for a second. _Raw power… unmatched potential… hmm…_, I thought. _Maybe… I can use some of that raw power, and use its potential to achieve what I want. I just need to guide it…_ I grinned and closed my eyes.

I imagined that raw power within me, and I saw in my mind's eye what I wanted to happen. I saw myself dropping out of visibility, and I filled that thought with the raw power and then expelled it into reality. I opened my eyes and looked down. I saw a shimmering silver-black outline of myself, but nothing else. I looked up at Pence and Sierra and saw that they looked like that as well.

"Don't worry," Sierra said. "Only Shadow People can see that outline. To any living thing you are completely undetectable."

"Sweet. Time to go?" I asked.

"Sure," Pence said. "So, we gotta shadow-travel to the living world. That will be easy enough for us, but it's gonna be hard for you. If we go to where you died, the link between you and that place will slightly lessen the toll that shadow-travelling is gonna take on you," Pence informed me. "That is, if you do it yourself," he continued, "if we do it for you, it won't drain you at all. So which do you want to do?"

"I want to do it myself. It'll make it easier to do it if I do it often, yes?"

He nodded. "You're right, but the first time… well most of the time people pass out for a really long time. You sure you want to do it yourself?"

"Definitely. It would only be delaying the inevitable, right? Besides, I want to take every chance I can get to grow stronger."

"Good point. Cool. So, you think you got this? You ready?

"Ready," I replied.

"Awesome. Go ahead and we'll follow."

I nodded, then closed my eyes. In my mind's eye, I drew the raw power to me, and imagined the small clearing where I had breathed my last. I saw myself using the power as a gateway to the living world. I held that thought and expelled it into reality. I opened my eyes as I did so, and I saw my surroundings change. I was now in the clearing, and the sunset shone in the distance. I mentally celebrated… for about two seconds. Then my vision started going dark and I staggered. The ground rushed up at me.

Before I hit, I was caught and I felt myself being carried, then put up against a tree trunk. "Tiring, isn't it? See, I told you," I heard Pence say, but I was too tired to open my eyes.

"Hey, he didn't pass out. He's a lot stronger than most. Remember when YOU first did it?" I heard Sierra defend me. "You passed out for a week and a half," she continued, "and he's only very tired. So quit acting all cool and stuff. Really."

Pence may have said more, but I felt myself slipping into a darkness that was warm and soft and VERY inviting. I gladly obliged, and sank into the deep comfort of sleep.

I awoke some time later. It was dark, so it must have been about two to three hours. Pence was on the ground, snoring away. _I slept through that?_

Sierra was sitting with her back against a rock, and she was staring up into the night sky, which was filled to bursting with stars. I sat up and stretched. She heard the noise and beckoned me over. I walked over and sat down beside her. She smiled at me, then turned her gaze back to the star-filled sky.

"You know," she said, "I don't get to see much of what happens in the living world. Aside from my position, which is staying in the shadow world and welcoming new arrivals, time… well, time in the shadow world is wibbly-wobbly sometimes. It sometimes will slow down, speed up, go backwards or forwards. Currently, it's actually pretty close to normal. I think that the living world is a few days ahead, more or less. Or was it a few days behind…" she trailed off, thinking. "Hmm, I don't know. But yeah, this century's time is pretty close to correct."

"Wait… this _century_? How long have you been a Shadow Person?" I asked.

"Oh…" she thought for a second, then continued, "about… seven or eight hundred years. I don't know how long ago living time."

I looked at her. She looked only about a year or two older than me. Seemingly reading my mind, she said, "Once you become a Shadow Person, you don't age. You _can_ die, but you will never age."

I thought about that for a second. "How do Shadow People die?" I asked.

"Well, there are two ways. First way is to fade. If you lose the will to exist, you will slowly start to stop existing. With enough time, if you continue to have no will to exist, you will fade. Your soul won't go to the Underworld. You will simply cease to exist.

"The other way is if you do something that takes more energy than you possess. Say you use a huge magical attack, but you didn't have the energy to do so. You will still execute the attack, but it will feed off of your life-force instead. You will collapse, and your entire being will start to dissolve. It takes about five minutes for most people. Once it is complete, you cease to exist. It's more common among the more powerful Shadows," she added.

"Wow, sounds fun. So, rule number one is don't give up. Rule number two is don't do something if it takes more than you got. Rule three is if rules one or two are broken, you will die. Period."

"Well, not really die. We already died. Nonexistence is the price for that, not death."

"Oh, gee, such an improvement." I rolled my eyes.

Sierra laughed. She looked up at the stars one more time. "You think you're ready to go?"

"Hmm… yeah, I think so."

"Sweet, let's go then." She kicked Pence. "Wake up, lazy bum."

Pence rolled over, yawned, and sat up. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked.

Sierra snorted. "You, Sleeping Beauty."

He ignored her and stood up. "You ready to go?" he asked me.

"Yup," I said, and I stood up. I offered my hand to Sierra, who smiled and took it, pulling herself up.

"Well, let's go then!" He started walking off.

"Hey Pence," I called after him.

"Yeah?"

"You're going the wrong way."

"Oh," he said, turning around and running back to us. "I knew that."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes, and began invisibly walking towards the camp, with my two new friends right beside me.

* * *

Publisher's Note:

Thanks for reading, next chapter should be up soon, please R&R. :)


	5. AN

THIS IS ONLY AN A/N not a new chapter I'm Sorry!

Ok, here's the thing. my editor alerted me about the chapter htat she was going to put up for me, and she showed me some things to fix, and i am sorry i've not had time to fix it! plus, it's hard to change what you've written.. i've been trying to figure it out. so i will continue soon!

Also, i am thinking of writing a Kingdom Hearts FanFic! so i'm going to (hopefully) be able to start that soon. not sure what i'm going to call it or what it'll be about, but i can tell you that there will be some O/C's that i made up by drawing them! keep an eye out for it if you want.

(i'm sorry i know that's advertising but hey i've seen others do it...)

i'm sorry, all, but i'll have it redone and up as soon as i can! and more will follow. thanks to all! (and as soon as i finish the chapter, i'll remove this A/N, i know i don't like A/N's in the middle of a story.)

-Blitz


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